Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com | 17 example of how cruise specialists have been successful in tapping into niche segments. In addition to weddings and religious travel, his company has also organised Bollywood-themed parties at sea and brought MICE groups onboard. "Selling cruises is the easiest thing one can do because the product is already packaged. When you sell a cruise package, you are essentially selling an experience. Everything from food to entertainment and port of calls is taken care of by the cruise company," he said. Joyful Holidays' general manager Wasana Paisarn-Akanee observed that while her cruise business in Asia has dipped slightly, the agency has success in selling long-haul cruises to the Mediterranean and catering to MICE groups. Through its two annual travel fairs, travel association NATAS is also helping to bring agents selling cruises closer to potential customers, said NATAS president Steven Ler. PT Elok Tour's commissioner and director of PT Elok Tour, Indonesia Pauline Suharno stressed the importance of staff training and patience to enable agencies to crack the cruising market. 4 Catching on with Millennials As cruises gain in popularity among the young, there's no one size that fits all when it comes to attracting them. And cruise lines are pulling out all the stops. Genting Cruise Lines recently collaborated with DC Comics on a series of Justice League-themed cruises while Royal Caribbean flashed a catchy call to get potential cruisers to "Swap your weekend" for an action-packed one on board its cruises. Genting ran video campaigns to promote its superhero-themed cruises on digital platforms such as Facebook, WeChat, Weibo and Instagram as well as print, which has resulted in "almost fully- booked" sailings, said Christine Lim, assistant vice president of international marketing, Genting Cruise Lines. When Royal Caribbean launched its campaign last April, it saw a spike in demand for its three-night voyages, which sells out 20% faster than four-night cruises, said Nicole Lai, head of marketing at Royal Caribbean Cruises (Asia) Pte Ltd. To succeed in speaking to the aspirations of Millennials, cruise marketers must speak the language of authenticity. "Showing real people having fun is the most important thing that will spur them to buy immediately at first sight. Social media is now mainstream and we're working to enhance social media marketing through the use of videos," said Lai Khe Han, director of TLC Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd. "As a first-timer to CruiseWorld Asia, the conference has been interesting. I've also been hearing a lot about cruise recently. Indonesia has a big market for cruise, but unfortunately there is not enough of education for the market. But we are launching a mobile app and I'm planning to introduce cruise products too." – Stevy Hanny, P.T. Mentari Artha Tri Abadi (Indonesia) "This is my third CruiseWorld Asia, and it has helped grow the awareness among newcomers to the industry that cruises are the way to go. It's a good encouragement to agents to know your product well and sell professionally, to focus on knowing the customer rather than undercutting just to win the business." – Gina Teo, managing director of Stamford Travel (Singapore) "I find the conference very helpful content wise. I've started promoting cruises in the last six months and now I am strongly pushing it. I can see the huge potential of cruise to be a big business in the future. – Thangavelu Kuppusamy, director / owner of Grandlotus Travel Agencies (Malaysia) AGENTS' SAY

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